Bots In Multiplayer Gaming

[ianeddy44]

I've just returned from a nice session of James Bond: Nightfire with my friends. We're having a blast with this game on PS2. More so than we have with most other games. The reason? BOTS. The four of us team up and take on a team of Pussy Galores, a character from Goldfinger. Shouts of "OH SHIT, PUSSY HAS A ROCKETLAUNCHER" and "IMMA GET ME SOME PUSSY *BANG BANG*" are wonderful cries of joy. I love teaming up with some friends and taking on the absolute best the system can dish out. It's made me realize that I don't see bots nearly as much as I used to. The most recent modern game I played with a bot mode was Killzone 2, and that was a few years ago.

So, Escapists, why do you think bots have stopped being as prolific as they once were? Do you think games like Halo, Call of Duty, etc. would benefit from having a mode with bots? Were bots lost in the multiplayer transition from couch to internet? There are arguably "bot" games, where the opposition is a computer-controlled faction such as Left 4 Dead or the Custom Games in Starcraft II, but that's online. I'm talking about a group of players on a couch/LAN facing off against CPU opponents.

 

[CrazyBlaze]

The rise of internet based gaming. There you can face against real opponents and why would a player want to play bots instead of real people. At least that is what I think devs think. Personally I would love more games with bots in them that I could play with friends. Bots and split screen are two things that I think more games should have.

 

[Hazy992]

Black Ops has a bot mode. It's called Combat Training, although you can play it as much as you want. You need to be on XBL/PSN to play it though.

 

[Neverhoodian]

Personally, I think every multiplayer title should have the option to include bots for offline play. MP communities slowly wither away and die over time as people move on to more recent titles. This is exacerbated if it's a console game or an MMO, as publishers have been known to "pull the plug" on games that still have an active community (Halo 2, Star Wars Galaxies, etc).

I'd rather have bots for opponents than running around an empty map any day.

 

[ianeddy44]

Personally, I think every multiplayer title should have the option to include bots for offline play. MP communities slowly wither away and die over time as people move on to more recent titles. This is exacerbated if it's a console game or an MMO, as publishers have been known to "pull the plug" on games that still have an active community (Halo 2, Star Wars Galaxies, etc).

I'd rather have bots for opponents than running around an empty map any day.

An excellent reason. For example here, there's Counter-Strike 1.6. It's been replaced by CS:Source, but there's a certain charm to the older version. There are lots of bot mods available. Here's an idea: If a dev decides to "pull the plug," I think it would be worthwhile add a patch or cheap DLC for a bot mode. For one this would allow people to continue playing, which could make it a real classic if it's still "relevant" in years to come. It would also be kind of a "thanks for your support/love of our game" to the long-term fans.

 

[ianeddy44]

Black Ops has a bot mode. It's called Combat Training, although you can play it as much as you want. You need to be on XBL/PSN to play it though.

I was unaware of this! That's excellent. Doesn't Black Ops have an online splitscreen feature as well?

 

[Hazy992]

Black Ops has a bot mode. It's called Combat Training, although you can play it as much as you want. You need to be on XBL/PSN to play it though.

I was unaware of this! That's excellent. Doesn't Black Ops have an online splitscreen feature as well?

Yeah it does. And on XBL I believe your friend can log in as their Live account

 

[ianeddy44]

Black Ops has a bot mode. It's called Combat Training, although you can play it as much as you want. You need to be on XBL/PSN to play it though.

I was unaware of this! That's excellent. Doesn't Black Ops have an online splitscreen feature as well?

Yeah it does. And on XBL I believe your friend can log in as their Live account

Now that's an absolutely fantastic thing. There's been a departure from real couch-based multiplayer for a few years now, and I think taking the online community and integrating it with the "couch community" will be excellent.

 

[Hazy992]

Black Ops has a bot mode. It's called Combat Training, although you can play it as much as you want. You need to be on XBL/PSN to play it though.

I was unaware of this! That's excellent. Doesn't Black Ops have an online splitscreen feature as well?

Yeah it does. And on XBL I believe your friend can log in as their Live account

Now that's an absolutely fantastic thing. There's been a departure from real couch-based multiplayer for a few years now, and I think taking the online community and integrating it with the "couch community" will be excellent.

Yeah it's great There's nothing more fun than hanging out with your mates and still being able to play multiplayer. Also the Halo games let you do online splitscreen too, which is what my mate and I would play on. Fun times!